China's state media jab US on Ferguson unrest

Julie Makinen

Beijing: With the ongoing unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, countries including China have sensed a chance to strike back at what they see as the US's preachiness and hypocrisy on human rights. This week comments by US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf seemed to offer a new, irresistible opportunity for China's state-run media.

Facing outside criticism of its handling of similar crises, China's government has typically defended itself by saying foreigners should not interfere in China's internal affairs. So when Ms Harf appeared to say something similar, the media pounced.

The quote in question came during the State Department's daily news briefing on Tuesday. When pressed by a reporter on whether the US welcomes criticism from countries such as China, Russia or Iran on the situation in Ferguson, Ms Harf answered: "As I said – and this is really a domestic issue – but briefly, when we have problems and issues in this country, we deal with them openly and honestly.

"I don't have any further comment on a process that is a purely domestic one and does not involve the State Department," she said, apparently trying to explain that her portfolio does not include domestic affairs.

But reporters from Chinese state media took Ms Harf's answer to suggest that the US rejected other countries' criticism.

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On Thursday, state broadcaster China Central Television reported during its prime-time morning news segment that "the US said other countries have no right to interfere with its domestic affairs".

The state-owned China Daily jumped in with a post from its social media account: "US spokesperson's response to suppression of the riot in Ferguson: This is domestic affairs of the US."

The events in Ferguson have been attracting increasing attention in China and discussion of what constitutes "US domestic affairs" immediately became one of the hottest topics on China's Twitter-like social media service Weibo on Thursday. A search of that phrase in Chinese returned over 1 million related posts.

Many Weibo comments echoed the cry of hypocrisy put forth by Chinese state media. "Isn't it your country who likes to interfere with the domestic affairs of other countries?" wrote Bian Xiuquan, a professor from China University of Political Science and Law. Another user from Chongqing asked, "Didn't you always say human rights are more important than the sovereignty of a country?"

Some witty users suggested Washington was plagiarising China's Foreign Ministry. "This is a complete violation of China's intellectual property. Even if you want to quote us, please give us some credit," mocked student Chris Zhang.

Later, thanks to some English-speaking users on Weibo, Ms Harf's original comments were presented fully. That led some to question the intentions of China's state media.

"What a joke! Some Chinese press really has no shame!" Beijing lawyer Yan Shubo said in a post on his Weibo account.